Pin high, or hole high, means that your approach shot landed even with the pin and not short or long.
That doesn’t mean that your shot landed close to the pin, only that it landed even with the pin, either left or right of the hole.
It means that your ball traveled the correct distance to the hole, but not necessarily on the correct line.
Look at the picture below:
The red line designates pin high.
Land your ball anywhere on that red line, and you can say you hit your approach shot pin high.
Is Pin High Good?
It can be.
But as you can see in the picture above, pin high can also be bad.
Using the picture as an example, if you hit your approach shot pin high but 30 yards to the right, you’re in the trees; not a good shot.
Or you could have hit a monster double cross and still been pin high, but 40 yards left and in the water or OB.
That said, pin high, or hole high, typically refers to shots that land on the green.
You could be pin high with just a tap in left to secure your up and down, or pin high with a 50-footer remaining, or anywhere in between.
It is generally used as a compliment: “great shot, you hit that pin high,” or a consolation, “well, at least you hit it pin high.”